Redditor claims that Monster Hunter Wilds runs better ‘the more DLC you own’, and it does—but not by much on my machine

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Monster Hunter Wilds has received criticism for its performance issues, resulting in a “Mixed” rating on Steam due to numerous technical problems. Recently, a Reddit user named de_Tylmarande shared a potential solution: a fan-made mod that bypasses a check for downloadable content, reportedly leading to a significant improvement in how the game runs.

Players first realized the game ran smoother when switching between accounts – one with all downloadable content (DLC) activated, and one without. According to de_Tylmarande, their mod doesn’t unlock the DLC itself; instead, it bypasses the game’s check for the DLC, avoiding a demanding process and resulting in a substantial increase in frame rate.

MH Wilds – Bad performance mystery (Solved?) from r/MonsterHunter

A Reddit user claims that owning more downloadable content (DLC) actually improves the game’s performance. They reported significant frame rate drops – down to 20-25 FPS in busy areas – when playing on an account without any DLC. However, on an account with all DLC purchased, they consistently achieved over 80 FPS.

To see if adding DLC really does slow down the game, I ran tests comparing a clean version of the game to one with all 189 DLC options installed. Technically, there are 190 DLC items for Monster Hunter Wilds, but like another player, I didn’t include the high-resolution texture pack in my testing.

After testing around the starting area multiple times, I saw an average improvement of about six frames per second, increasing performance from 61 to 67 fps. Gameplay during missions didn’t seem to affect the frame rate, with results showing a margin of error of around two fps. I also didn’t notice any reduction in stuttering, and the lowest 1% of frame rates stayed pretty much the same. So, it did run faster overall, but the improvement wasn’t significant.

While a six frames-per-second improvement might not seem significant, it’s important to consider the testing environment. I ran these tests on my desktop, which has an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X processor and an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. This setup is considerably faster than the gaming laptop—an Intel Core i7-12800HX with an RTX 3070 Ti mobile—that de_Tylmarande used for their previous results.

Monster Hunter Wilds DLC performance testing
Average fps 1% lows
Monster Hunter Wilds – No DLC 61 fps 36
Monster Hunter Wilds – All DLC installed 67 fps 35

The performance improvements might be more noticeable on older or less powerful computers, potentially increasing in a way that diminishes with better hardware. Alternatively, the mod could be improving performance by affecting another part of the game, in addition to removing the requirement for the DLC.

I captured my gameplay at 4K resolution with the ‘High’ graphics setting (which automatically sets DLSS to ‘Balanced’) and frame generation turned off. To ensure consistent testing, I made sure to reach the in-game vendor, Conut, at the same spot each time.

One possible explanation for the improved performance is the presence of the Conut creatures. It seems that getting close to them – or entering a camp where they live, as I did in my playthroughs – might cause the game to scan through all the installed downloadable content. This scanning process could temporarily lower the frame rate. Therefore, the idea is that when the game doesn’t need to search for DLC, it runs more smoothly.

I didn’t notice any major performance issues just being near Cronut’s location. However, I did experience a frame rate drop of about 10 fps when first entering the camp, whether I had the DLC installed or not. This isn’t unexpected, considering the camp is busy with characters and visual details. It’s possible this frame rate drop includes the DLC’s impact, and players with less powerful computers might notice a bigger difference.

Should you buy a lot of downloadable content (DLC) to make Monster Hunter Wilds run better? Based on my initial tests, the answer is no. However, it’s worth noting that adding all the DLC does slightly improve the frame rate, even if the difference isn’t huge on my computer.

It seems like a minor bug, at least for me. A user named de_Tylmarande has contacted Capcom with information about it, and if Capcom can’t resolve the issue, they plan to complete and release the mod as an open-source solution.

I’ve been checking out Monster Hunter Wilds, and while it’s amazing, it can still be pretty tough on my PC. Luckily, our Nick put together a really helpful guide to tweaking all the settings to get the best performance! It doesn’t seem like there’s one simple fix to make it run perfectly, but it definitely helped me, and it looks like the developers are still working on ironing out some bugs to improve things even further.

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2026-01-15 20:33